IB MYP Language Acquisition: The Four Assessment Criteria in Practice -- Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, modelling the kind of evidence-evaluation judgment MYP Language Acquisition’s assessment actually requires. They are not reproduced IB material – the IB holds copyright in its own subject guides and exemplars. Use these alongside official exemplars available through your school.

Related: Criteria in Practice study guide and revision notes.

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Section A

1. Name the four assessment criteria for MYP Language Acquisition. [4]

2. Which criterion is assessed separately from the other three, as an internally assessed, interactive task? [1]

3. Name the three proficiency phases against which these criteria are assessed. [3]

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Section B

4. A capable-phase listening task plays an announcement about a museum’s temporary closure, accompanied by an image of a “closed for renovation” sign. A student’s response correctly states the closure dates mentioned in the audio, but says nothing about the image.

(a) Explain what is missing from this response relative to top-band Criterion A evidence. [3] (b) Describe what the student would need to add. [3]

5. A student preparing for a speaking assessment memorises a full prepared answer about their hobbies. When the examiner asks an unexpected follow-up question about a specific detail the student mentioned, the student responds by repeating part of their prepared answer, which does not actually address the question asked.

(a) Explain why this response is unlikely to demonstrate top-band Criterion C evidence. [3] (b) Describe what a top-band response would need to do instead. [3]

6. A student is asked to write both a text message to a friend and a formal email to a school administrator, both requesting the same thing (rescheduling a meeting). The student writes nearly identical content for both, changing only the greeting from “Hi!” to “Dear Sir/Madam.”

(a) Explain why this is unlikely to demonstrate top-band Criterion D evidence for both tasks. [3] (b) Describe two further changes the student should make to genuinely differentiate the two pieces of writing. [3]

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Section C

7. Two students produce responses to the same Criterion B reading task – a poster combining short text with icons and colour coding. One student correctly explains the literal text but does not mention the icons or colours at all. Explain why this response cannot reach top band regardless of how accurate its comprehension of the written words is, and what would need to be added. [6]

8. Explain why the same criterion (for example, Criterion D: Writing) can result in a top achievement level for two students at different proficiency phases, using a specific contrast between what a top-band emergent-phase response and a top-band proficient-phase response might each look like. [6]

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Worked answers

1. Listening (A), Reading (B), Speaking (C), and Writing (D). [4]

2. Criterion C: Speaking. [1]

3. Emergent, capable, and proficient. [3]

4. (a) Missing is any interpretation of the accompanying image as a source of meaning in its own right. Top-band Criterion A evidence requires understanding how images or other spatial elements presented alongside the oral text contribute to meaning, not just transcribing factual details heard aloud – the response demonstrates audio comprehension but not the genuine multimodal interpretation the criterion specifically credits. [3] (b) The student would need to explain how the image reinforces or adds to the spoken message – for example, noting that the “closed for renovation” sign visually confirms and reinforces the closure announced in the audio, or adds information (the reason for closure) not necessarily stated aloud. [3]

5. (a) Top-band Criterion C evidence requires genuine spontaneous interaction, responding directly and coherently to what was actually asked. Repeating part of a memorised answer that does not address the specific follow-up question demonstrates rehearsed recitation rather than real interactive competence, which is exactly what this criterion is designed to distinguish from genuine spoken proficiency. [3] (b) A top-band response would need to listen to and directly address the specific follow-up question asked, drawing on genuine vocabulary and structures appropriate to the student’s proficiency phase to construct a relevant, coherent answer in the moment, even if that means departing entirely from the prepared answer’s content. [3]

6. (a) Top-band Criterion D evidence requires genuinely different register, vocabulary and structure suited to each task’s specific audience and purpose – an informal text message to a friend and a formal email to a school administrator should read as two distinctly different pieces of writing, not the same content with a changed greeting. Producing near-identical content for both fails to demonstrate the audience-and-purpose sensitivity the criterion specifically assesses, regardless of how correct the underlying language is in either piece. [3] (b) Any two reasonable changes, for example: using abbreviated, informal vocabulary and casual sentence structure in the text message (contractions, informal phrasing) versus complete, formal sentences and polite, indirect requests in the email (“I was wondering whether it might be possible to…” rather than a direct demand); adjusting the level of detail and explanation expected in each register (a school administrator may expect a clear reason and proposed alternative times, where a friend might not); and using an appropriate formal closing and signature in the email versus an informal sign-off in the text message. [3]

7. Top-band Criterion B evidence specifically requires interpreting the spatial and visual aspects of a text – layout, images, colour, formatting – as sources of meaning in their own right, not just decoration around the written words. A response that comprehends the literal text accurately but says nothing about the icons or colour coding demonstrates only literal reading comprehension, missing exactly the multimodal-interpretation element the criterion is designed to assess separately from plain text comprehension. To reach top band, the response would need to explain what the icons and colour choices themselves communicate – for example, a red icon signalling urgency or warning – in addition to correctly understanding the written text, treating the visual elements as genuinely meaningful rather than irrelevant to the reading task. [6]

8. A top-band emergent-phase Writing response might be a short, simple message using basic vocabulary and simple sentence structures, but one that is accurate, appropriately suited to its audience and purpose within the limits of what an emergent-phase learner can be expected to produce – for example, a brief, correctly formatted informal note to a friend. A top-band proficient-phase Writing response to a comparable task would be expected to show a much wider range of vocabulary, more complex sentence structures, nuanced control of register, and genuinely creative or sophisticated expression of ideas – for example, a formal letter that not only uses correct formal register but varies sentence structure and vocabulary skilfully to achieve a persuasive or nuanced effect. Both responses can receive a top achievement level because each is being judged against what is realistically achievable at its own proficiency phase, not against a single fixed standard that would unfairly disadvantage an emergent-phase learner or fail to stretch a proficient-phase learner. [6]

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Language Acquisition, from 2020, (c) 2020 – the same source cited by the study guide and revision notes. Verified 2026-09-06.